Mestastable State Population in Laser Induced Plasmas

Laser induced plasma has been used as a source of neutrals and ions in the study of astrophysical plasmas. The purity of state of this source is essential in the determination of collision parameters such as the charge transfer rate coefficients between ions and neutrals. We will show that the temperature of the laser induced plasma is a rapidly decreasing function of time. The temperature is initially high but cools off rapidly through collisions with the expanding plasma electrons as the plasma recombines and streams into the vacuum. This rapid expansion of the plasma, similar to a supersonic jet, drastically lowers the internal energy of the neutrals and ions

Surgery remains the best option for the management of pain in patients with chronic pancreatitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Controversy related to endoscopic or surgical management of pain in patients with chronic pancreatitis remains. Despite improvement in endoscopic treatments, surgery remains the best option for pain management in these patients

11-Year Experience with Anatomical and Extra-anatomical Repair of Mycotic Aortic Aneurysms

AbstractBackground. We have reviewed our management, of both ruptured and non-ruptured, abdominal and thoraco-abdominal mycotic aneurysms in order to determine the safety and efficacy of in situ and extra-anatomical prosthetic repairs.Methods. Data regarding presenting symptoms, investigations, operative techniques and outcome, were collected on patients treated at a singe centre over 11 years.Results. There were 11 men and four women, with a median age of 70 years (range, 24–79). All but one patient were symptomatic and six had a contained leak on admission. In six patients no organisms were identified in either blood or tissue cultures. Pre-operative CT identified; four infra-renal, four juxta-renal, three (Crawford thoraco-abdominal) type IV, three type III and one type II, aortic aneurysms. Thirteen were repaired with in situ prostheses and two required axillo-femoral prosthetic grafts. There were four early deaths. All surviving patients have been followed-up for a median duration of 38 months (range 1/2–112 months). There were two late deaths at 3 months (juxta-renal) and at 2 years (type III), the latter relating to graft infection.Conclusions. In the absence of uncontrolled sepsis, repair of mycotic aortic aneurysms using prosthetic grafts can achieve durable results

Seismic retrofitting and health monitoring of school buildings of Cyprus

The vulnerability of existing buildings to seismic forces and their retrofitting is an international problem. The majority of structures in seismic-prone areas worldwide are structures that have been designed either without the consideration of seismic forces, or with previous codes of practice specifying lower levels of seismic forces. In Cyprus, after the three earthquakes that occurred in 1995, 1996, and 1999, the Cyprus State, acting in a pioneering way internationally, has decided the seismic retrofitting of all school buildings, taking into account the sensitivity of the society towards these structures, which house the future generation of the society. In this paper the overall assessment methodology is presented, along with details of the over 10 year ongoing retrofitting program of the school buildings of Cyprus, with emphasis on the description of the program and the development of a wireless monitoring system. In addition, mathematical models of selected school buildings are presented and comparison is made with in-situ measurement

Proarrhythmic Effect of ICD Function

The implantable cardioverter ??? defibrillator (ICD) is a device that treats ventricular tachyarrhythmias (VT), when they appear in a sustained form. The device???s programming can deliver the following therapies: 1) antitachycardia pacing (ATP), 2) cardioversion and 3) defibrillation. Today???s devices also have the capability of every mode of cardiac pacing, i.e. atrial, ventricular, atrio-ventricular and biventricular pacing.It is well known that the antiarrhythmic drug therapy can exhibit proarrhythmic effects. Likewise, the antiarrhythmic apparatus can possibly aggravate an existing VT or cause the appearance of a new arrhythmia, attempting to convert the clinical tachyarrhythmia. A case of proarrhythmic effect related to the therapeutic sequences delivered by an ICD, is delineated in the following continuous recording of an arrhythmic event,as it was stored in the Holter function of the device

The role of thrombospondins in wound healing, ischemia, and the foreign body reaction

Thrombospondin (TSP) 1 and TSP2 have been implicated in the regulation of several processes during tissue repair. Due to their matricellular nature, these proteins are thought to modulate cell-matrix interactions through a variety of mechanisms specific to the spatio-temporal context of their expression. Most notably, TSP1 and TSP2 appear to play distinct, non-overlapping roles in the healing of skin wounds. In contrast, both proteins have been implicated as regulators of ischemia-induced angiogenesis. Moreover, TSP2 has been shown to be a critical regulator of angiogenesis in the foreign body response (FBR). In this review, we discuss the role of TSPs in tissue repair and examine the mechanistic data regarding the ability of the thrombospondins to modulate cell-matrix interactions in this context

Proarrhythmic Effect of Implantable Defibrillator Function

Proarrhythmia usually refers to the worsening of an arrhythmia from an antiarrhythmic medication. However, implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) devices can also be proarrhythmic as is shown in the case herein presented

Lymphoepithelial Cyst of the Pancreas.

The final, published version of this article is available at doi: 10.1159/000445373Lymphoepithelial cyst (LEC) of the pancreas is an extremely rare, benign pancreatic cystic lesion that is difficult to differentiate preoperatively from other cystic pancreatic lesions. LEC may have malignant potential. Here, we describe a case of LEC of the pancreas - initially suspected to be a mucinous cyst neoplasm - in an elderly man presenting with abdominal pain, who went on to have a distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy. We also review the relevant literature and discuss implications for the diagnosis and management of this rare lesion

How Healthcare Systems Negatively Impact Environmental Health? The Need for Institutional Commitment to Reduce the Ecological Footprint of Medical Services

The global healthcare industry plays a crucial role in preserving human health and well-being. However, there is a growing concern that the operation of healthcare systems may have unintended negative consequences on environment and health. Actually, healthcare systems worldwide are aimed at improving human health and prolonging life expectancy, but the pursuit of better health outcomes has environmental ramifications that are often underperceived [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. In Western countries, the health sector represents between 8 and 10% of a country’s gross domestic product and employs 8% of total workers. This large-scale activity inevitably results in having a huge impact on the environment since it requires the use of various means of transportation, and the consumption of electricity and chemicals. Therefore, it is not a surprise that healthcare systems account for an average of 8.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States and about 6% in other Western countries [1]. Specifically, in a 2013 study, the US healthcare sector was found to be responsible for 12% of the overall national acid rain emissions, 10% of greenhouse gas emissions recorded that year and 10% of smog formation, being responsible also for 9% of air pollutants (including carcinogenic toxics) and 1% of stratospheric ozone depletion

GA-ANN Short-Term Electricity Load Forecasting

This paper presents a methodology for short-term load forecasting based on genetic algorithm feature selection and artificial neural network modeling. A feed forward artificial neural network is used to model the 24-h ahead load based on past consumption, weather and stock index data. A genetic algorithm is used in order to find the best subset of variables for modeling. Three data sets of different geographical locations, encompassing areas of different dimensions with distinct load profiles are used in order to evaluate the methodology. The developed approach was found to generate models achieving a minimum mean average percentage error under 2 %. The feature selection algorithm was able to significantly reduce the number of used features and increase the accuracy of the models